Billerica Town (part 12 of 17)

Vol. 1, No. 4, was published in July, 1855, not printed, but carefully written on pale blue paper ten and onehalf by sixteen inches - fourteen pages this size, neatly ruled, and the title done in old English at the tc^ of each page.

The subjects treated are, perhaps, as timely today as they were in 1855. ** Ignorance" is the first. The writer says ** Ignorance can gaze upon the most sublime objects and phenomena in creation with hardly a desire to know and investigate.

"She looks simply upon the surface of things; and the gossamery , which an All- Wise Providence has thrown over the face of Nature to tempt to inquiry and investigation, has never been penetrated. She sits pur-blind like the Owl at noonday, gazing at nothing, while diamonds glitter at her feet, and precious stones are strown at the right hand and at the left, and the harmony of the spheres oV^er her head discourses the most elegant music, while Nature's ten thousand voices from beneath, around, above, invite to action. And this is ignorance, blissful ignorance over which Minerva wept tears of pearl."

"Odd Zounds ! vSlam Bang ! What under the Sun or Moon can be written to please the Club? * * * (A whole column of nonsense). And now, Miss Editor, I hope you have properly rehearsed, accented, and executed my Polka. One of your predecessors in the Editorial, who would not harm a black spider*s sixteenth cousin, did nevertheless, unwittingly, commit murder with and upon one of mv lines."

Decorum is regained by *'A vSketch," relating the pathetic decline and demise of a young poet and his love, - "In a pleasant, airy room which opened ujjon a green and shady lawn, reclined a youth of some twenty summers, whose almost ethereal appearance marked him just ready for his flight hence to the spirit world, to which indeed he seemed already more akin than to the world of sense in which he lingered. His lofty brow bore the stamp of intellect, and in his eye was a light, so bright, so deep, so intense, that a whole soul seemed to beam out from each glistening orb."

It seems that a poetic youth of humble origin had fallen in love with a girl of wealth and distinction. He pined away and died for love of her, but left a poem, "The Poet\s Ideal," which after his death was read and finally placed by kind hands in the lap of the girl, herself declining of love for her lost lover. She reads it and exclaims, "I am happy now, yea blessed in dying."

The "Dccir Editor" is next invited to give space in the "Home-Spring" for a poem, "Ruth," which was "suggested from reading a paragraph in the newspaper."

spirits cower," and she does not, as she intended, kill with a brick, a child which she had .stolen, but, "She placeth the boy, still laughing entitled "Young Man Wanted," would ccrtainlv stir the bovs a little these days. She says, "I am domestic, and I know I am affectionate, and I certainly am quite fond enough of romance for any man of taste." She will t)e glad to make an apjx)intment by letter and meet the prospective husband on the Common at 8 o'clock in the evening, whenever there is a good moon, or will j)ay half if he wants to go for a buggy ride, and can't afford it.

"The Beau Ideal of the wScholar" is an ambitious article pointing out the \nrtues of lofty thought. "It is an idea of excellence; of intrinsic, absolute, perfect excellence."

Thus far the articles have come under the stated scope of the paper, but on page sevx»n begins a long discourse on "Religion," entirely unaccounted for and unaccountable. The unknown writer says. "There is nothing in Religion." He advances seven "opinions", each well buttressed with voluminous argument.

First - if there were anything in religion, it would equally concern all ])ersons to be religious. But you cannot make all persons religious.

An interested member of the club begs space in which to protest against * * Bamum's Autobiography" as immoral. The characterization of Barnumisgood. **He is a shrewd, calculating man, somewhat low in his tastes, who started a little more than ten years since, with the determination that he would be rich. Shrewd, as I have said, and yet unincumbered by any notions of delicacy such as a refined man is supposed to possess, he could turn that invaluable quality for moneygetting in any direction that promised success.

The ** Home-Spring" next gives a page and a half to "Comparative facilities for the acquisition of literary eminence in ancient and modem times."

The author - anonymous, as usual - [joints out that, in the absence of the I)rinting press, each separate copy of a book was a new and re\nsed edition, and that the labor of writing was great enough to make condensation highly coveted by the scribe, hence the purity of early Greek and Roman writing. But modem thought has nevertheless been so enriched by scientific, geographic, and other forms of knowledge that the present day writer has many advantages over his ancient master. The article deserves to be copied in full.

The closing article again refers to Bamum. He is here defended. " 'Nihil est ab parte beatum* 'Nothing below is wholly blest,' says Horace - and with equal truth might he have sa!id, 'Nihil est ab omni parti bonum.' If this be true - and who can doubt it? - ought we entirely to forego charity in our judgment of Mr. Bamum*s Autobiography?

To fill up the last remaining line in the last remaining column is this ambitious apology. "We meant to have said much more, and said that much better, but our say is over."

This we offer in 1914 as a most refreshing example of the intellectual life of Billerica sixty years ago, when the Howe School was scarcely three years old, trolleys, telephones, etc., unknown, Boston a great way off, and our town supposedly much more benighted than it is today.

Forestry Report On Some Billerica Holdings

recent life of Thonia« Wentworth HisginHon rontaina a referenre to thin same book. While in Nia|(ara, Hiicginflon wrote home, "My conj^regation was good, including Mr. Bamum, whotM? autobiography I came very near unconsciously referring to."

Mr. John Murdoch, Jr., has recently made an examination of lands on Gilson Hill and about the Manning Manse, belonging to Mr. John E. Rowcll, and Mr. Warren H. Manning, in resj^onse to their request to the State Forestry Department, that such an examination be made.

Mr. Rowell's lots on Gilson Hill include about 30 acres that were cut off in 1901, 1902 and 1903. The growth was mostly oak about 30 years old, that yielded 25 cords to the acre, costing $1.10 per cord to cut. Among these oak were a few older pines that Mr. Rowcll saved for seeding the cut-over land. These trees served their purpose very well, and there are many young pines scattered over this lot. In 1906 they were cut, yielding about 10,000 feet of lumber.

Another area of about 20 acres, covered with a similar growth, with the addition of a group of canoe birch, one of the only large groups in town, has had about half the trees cut off this winter. Here, too, the scattered old pines have seeded in among the oaks, and there are many young pines well established. In this area the g}^psy moth made one of its first api)earances in Billerica, and about half the oaks and many of the large pines have been killed or very greatly diminished in vitality.

On Mr. Manning's adjacent Gilson Hill holdings, was a similar growth, with an almost entire absence of large pines. This was cut off in 1899, with the exception of scattered individual chestnuts, oaks, and maples, that were marked at that time to be saved. Notwithstanding the absence of old pines on this area, there is a rather thin sprinkling of young trees from seed that must have blown in from the large trees on the Rowell property, and on property to the north, and smaller trees on property to the west.

Mr. Murdoch's recommendation was that pines be planted on the recently cut-over land at a cost of about $10.00 per acre. He recommended that all existing pines be retained on this cut-over land, as well as canoe birches, for they are not as freely eaten by the gyi)sy moth as other trees.

He recommended that the rest of the trees on the Rowell land be cut off as soon as they can be marketed, as they are rapidly depreciating in value. On the land cut over in recent years, he recommended that brush be cut away from the pines, or branches cut off the adjacent sprout growth - far enough back to prevent the falling of gypsy moth from the deciduous branches onto the pines. A band of tanglefoot should be placed around each of the pines, this being comparatively inexpensive for small trees, and ^vithout this protection the pines are pretty sure to be destroyed by the gypsy. He stated that to replant these cut over territories with pine, it would be necessary to cut down the present brush at a cost of $10.00 or more an acre. He thought it would be better where there was a growth of hickory, ash, or red maple, as there is in parts of these areas, to cut away the oaks, especnally white oaks, and the gray birch, and give the other trees mentioned which are not much eaten by the gypsy moth an opjjortunity to develop.

On another lot owned by Mr. Manning on Rangeway road is considerable chestnut in which the chestnut disease is making a beginning, as it is on another lot on the opposite side of this road further to the North. Mr. Murdoch's advice was to let the chestnuts grow, excepting in places where they were overtopping a good pine growth, because he had found that in many places the disease was making very slow progress in this wState. He did advise, however, to have all trees that were affected, cut down, the wood utilized, and the branches and bark burned.

As these lots are typical of a large amoimt of growth in Billerica, it seemed advisable to have the examination made and the results printed.

Mr. Murdoch said that in cutting a chestnut, 30 foot poles could be sold to the railroad and telegraph companies and that such poles were cut in 5 foot lengths, that is, 25, 30, 35 feet, etc. wSmaller poles could be cut into 8 foot i^osts. The usual cost of cutting and barking telegraph poles is about one cent a running foot.

Webb Brook

It is scarcelv known outside the limits of Billerica, for its length is not more than three miles, yet its waters, in their quiet flowing, have preserved

Christopher Webb came hither from Braintree when northern Middlesex was a wilderness, dwelt near the woodland stream for two or three years; then returned to the older settlement, and sold his Shawshin lands. Yet the transient resident has left his name while the men who cleared these fields and built the stone walls and the roads that intersect and separate them are forgotten. The stream is Webb Brook from source to mouth, the Webb pasture lies midway along its course, and the main thoroughfare that crosses it is known as Webb Brook Road.

At the farthest limit of the open fields, in view from Wyman Road, the stream passes the ruins of the "stock farm" buildings burned nearly forty years ago; and dribbles through the remains of a dam which once retained its waters for the convenience of the farmer. While there is suggestiveness in any trace of the handiwork of man upon nature there is perhaps something peculiarly characteristic about deserted waterworks. A mill pond well nigh dry, grass-grown with a slender stream trickling through; a broken raceway wdth its planks falling in shreds, while the stream once forced to pass between its sides, now slips by at will; these are associated with man's temporary success in bending nature to his wish. A thousand brooks may laugh as they will around disused race-ways, the great reservoirs that supply cities, hold a valley filled with water at man's behest. Escaping from the broken gate the brook enters the only bit of woodland left along its course, through which it flows for a mile on its wav to Shawshin. This narrow strip of shade alone remains of the forests and swamps that once hid its banks from the sunlight.

steeped year after year in the pools along its way. Many of its impurities, which it would otherwise bear in its current, have been filtered away in the beds of quartz and feldspar which the frosts and rains of two centuries have placed along its course.

It bears into the forest memories of the sunlighted pastures along Webb Brook Road. Here and there in the forest depths some eddy retains a fragment of the golden-rod or meadow grass borne from upstream, or is bright with the crimson of a bunch of barberries, fallen from the pasture shrubs. Happy is the human anchorite of whom the same is true.

It is unnecessary to invade the woods; to disturb the brook in its meditations. Leave the task of overcoming the thickets to the first chance angler who thinks that its waters may still harbor trout. You will carry away as much as he. It is easier to resume acquaintance with the stream at the point where its waters enter the ShaWvShin. The canoe will take you from the bridge on the Boston Road, along a serpentine path, ])erhaps a mile; then the voice of the brook is heard as it joins the river. It is a tribe darker for its woodland sojourn; its voice is deep and musical.

Two centuries and a half ago the brook was holding practically the same course. The clearing of its sides has been gradual, but perhaps for half that period it has been as open to the sunlight as it is today. In all that time it has perhaps turned no machiner>' larger than a boy's waterwhecl ; yet that is no unimportant task for therewith arc sometimes connected unseen shafts and shuttles that weave rich tapestry for arras hangings of castles in Spain; or even produce a flying carpet. You may drain all Niagara into turbine chutes and leave only a sunburned ledge where its rainbows are now arching and still the product may not compete in value with the memories that generations of boys have woven along Webb Brook.

A. G. Pollard Co

During the Summer months Shopping at this Store can be done with more comfort than elsewhere. Every Department is connected by Phone, and with our Suburban Delivery, we promise you our best service.

The Banks Of The Concord

Billerica contains much of historical interest. The old Cook House described on another page is only one of a number which ought to be represented in a volume dedicated to "Old New England Farmhouses." Most of these old buildings are well preserved, and well cared for, but the Old Red Schoolhouse, described in the October, 1913, Billerica, is neglected. It should be repaired this summer, and a small fund established for its preservation.

Our citizens, as a rule, appreciate these remnants of the past, but have not apparently taken much notice of one of the most important historical features, a feature which extends back, so we may conjecture, to the beginning of civilization, and will continue its silent influence farther than we dare to imagine into the future. Men have been coming and going along its course for a few centuries now, but it goes on forever.

On the opposite bank from that battleground stands the "Manse," from which Hawthorne gathered his immortal mosses. Farther down the stream, near the Bedford-Billerica line, are the Brother Rocks, where Governors Winthrop and Dudley drew the boundary between their two grants of land cut off for them from the Town of Concord. At North Billerica still remain the tow path and locks where the Middlesex canal crossed the river and got its water supply. On either bank of the river at this point stand two woolen mills, the Faulkner Mills, second oldest in the United States, and the Talbot Mills, noted far and wide not only for the quality of goods produced, but also for the efficiency of its administration and the unusually high class of operatives. Then, too, the boat ride from Concord to North Billerica is following the course, past the same meadows, hills, and fields which Thoreau followed nearly a hundred years ago, and described, as they will never be described again, in the "Week on the Concord and the Merrimac." The battleground of American freedom, the home of American letters, the beginning of American woolen industry were on the banks of the Concord. On its placid waters floated one of Nature's truest lovers, and to its amber flood the first canal gates in oixr country were opened.

All this, however, as interestihg and as important as it may appear, sufficient though it may be to put the Concord River ahead of any other in point of literary, military, industrial, commercial and scenic interest, is not so important as the development which is proposed at the bend, just below the dam at North Billerica.

last March that President Emeritus Charles W. Eliot told a Billerica audience that this town now faces an unusual opportunity to contribute materially to the ^eat probk^n of perpetuating civilization in America. This, he said, could be done by adopting laws and promoting enterjDrises which would provide proper housing conditions for the incoming employees of the Boston and Maine shops. The same was said by Bank Commissioner Thorndike, and A. T. Comey, of the Homestead Commission. It was only a repetition by outsiders of what many of our townspeople have said and felt for a long time. It seems now to have gone from word to action, for the plans have been drawn, as published in the Transcript, pro- \'iding for **The First American Experiment with the English Garden City Idea." And if the plans are developed in Billerica, copied with improvements in other towns throughout the country, years will not be long in turning the attention of the entire nation to the birthplace in America of a new era in civic life. This, too, on the banks of the Concord!

When Thoreau meandered down the Concord making random notes as he went, he was often reminded of the natives who dwelt on these lovely banks, and he confessed a feeling of sympathy for them as he thought of how advancing civilization had robbed them of their birthright. So may we now feel a kindred sympathy for the natives of today who look with sad eyes upon the advance of that which does not yet appear to them as civilization. But our s\Tnpathy will be unavailing, unless it may serve to convince them that good citizenshi]) in Billerica implies a loyalty and devotion which will make for higher civilized life.

Rural Life And The New Civilization

The argument in Miss Semple's "Influences of Geographic Environment" has to do with the foimdation upon which all civilization is built; and she asserts that the one essential for the development of a race or nation is personal contact.

The geography of the world determines the locus of this contact, so that by following river basins and discovering fertile and accessible fields it is easy enough to prophesy the centers of future population and culture. Now the reason people evolve a higher culture in cities than in the country is for this reason and no other, that in the cities they are compelled and induced to associate whereas in the countr>'^ they are isolated. Sir Horace Plunkett speaks of the leaders of any rural movement as likely to come from the city, as if city bred people were the only rightful heirs of "those gifts of heart and mind which go to make the higher citizenship in the many, and the statesmanship in the few." We know, of course, that these "gifts of heart and mind" are no more the heritage of city than of country youths. The other half of Sir Horace's statement is true, however, for he asserts that men who combine those gifts with the necessar\'^ experience mil more likely be found in the city than in the country. The city provides the experience, nothing more. Character is a national racist! asset, not as yet confined bv geographic boundaries.

The rural people will never develop themselves, because they do not meet often enough. Therefore, if this work is to be accomplished city people who combine experience with intelligence and public spirit will have to take the leadership. The popular cry for spond taneous self-culture in rural communities is misleading insofar as it tends to discourage the thought of outside guidance. It is false insofar as it seems to imply that conditions are now favorable for such spontaneaty. Moreover, it is not as a rule based on what seems to be facts, or scientific analysis. There are not enough facts known at present to warrant a definite statement as to what is possible, but enough is known to prove that spontaneous culture in the country is not possible at present. These facts are sufficient: (1) Rural schools teach city ideals. (2) Problems of transportation and communication are handled almost entirely by city people or through their influence. Notable exceptions to this are the enterprises in road building and establishing of rural telephone lines in some places in the West, but it is difficult to know how much outside influence had to do with initiating these enterprises. (3) Richness of soil and extensive agriculture in the vast farming regions tend to ambitious farming in large fields which results in a scattered, hence isolated, population. A dozen more similar facts might be adduced to show that rural conditions in the U.S. are nbt such as to encourage spontaneous development in the country. Hence if city people do not undertake the work it will not be done.

These city people who have been so educated that they could discover the Rural Problem discovered ages ago the greater problem of conserving and developing civilization among all people. Just now a new light is breaking in upon them and they are about to discover that a higher state of civilization than any yet recorded may be evolved from a new form of human association which is neither entirely rural, or entirely urban.

We must confess that our Rural Progress leaders can come only from the cities, for there alone do they receive the necessar\' experience and inspiration - (presuming, of course, to call agricultural colleges part of city life, as they are, essentially) - but it does not follow that the city is perfect in any respect. It is the best and only place in our country where culture is developed, but this culture is not for that reason satisfactory, or even desirable. For it must be observed that mere human contact does not instire right development of the associated individuals. The nature of the culture is determined by the circtimstances under which people meet. The saloon promotes sociability, but nothing worthy rises from it. The ball room is a common and frequent meeting-place, but does not at present lead to much positive growth. Children in the city street gain much by personal contact, and the resultant street culture is noticeable, but far from desirable. Indeed, the city offers more in bulk to degenerate himian society than- to redeem it, thus demonstrating that mere human contact is not sufficient for adequate development.

It is, then, necessary to discover what forms of association will bring out desirable traits of character, which, combining in the social group, will constitute the finest culture.

The task for our leaders is to establish a system which will bring people together in hours of toil and recreation, - for "proper circumstances" are just this, the natural work and play of human beings.

The vices of the city result from a disregard for this principle. Th^re arc vast masses who only toil together, and under sordid conditions. Nothing good can come out of this. There are other masses who have no work to do, hence associate only in hours of leisure. Having no particular worthy task to occupy their idle fingers and vacant minds, they * 'invent" conversation, and gradually fall into a civility which is noted for its "charm" and "polish," but which is as foreign to true culture as the rough, thoughtless language of those who only toil together. The prestige which the idle society people enjoy is not in the least dependent upon their artificial civility, but upon their financial power and independence. Having gained the handle end of th6 whip, it makes little difference whether they wear kid gloves or no gloves at all, whether they give the little finger a dainty curve slightly up from the handle, or clench it with straight, crude heedlessness. The important fact is they hold the handle of the whip, and are, therefore, to be hated, obeyed, envied and emulated.

Between the drudges and the drones, there are the wholesome middle classes from whom our present cultiu^ arises. These earnest people seem to be better endowed with moral and intellectual fibre than those above and below them, but there is reason to believe that a good part of their personal virtue arises from the fact that they associate pleasantly in hours of toil and of leisure. They meet often on common grounds, discuss matters of mutual interest, vie with each other, inspire each other, care more for the friendship of their equals than for the splendor of their social superiors, and thus manage to live and develop fairly normal lives.

Besides the tremendous burden of vice above and below these truly cultured middle classes, they must also suffer from congestion. They Hve in the opposite end of the lane from the farmer. He has his whole lonesome field to work and play in unmolested; they are huddled together in tiny offices and dingy back yards. Neither can develop properly until they meet in the middle of the lane, join hands and enjoy the double benefits of sociability and adequate fields for labor and for play.

It is obviously the task of the present day reformer, whether he is preaching Rural Progress, or promoting child labor legislation, to devise means whereby our citizens, urban or rural, shall be led to associate pleasantly in

The Story Of The Cook House

One of the most conspicuous of Billerica landmarks is the ancient house now occupied by Mr. Sears J. Cook in the centre village. Just when it was built and by whom seems impossible to say, but its architecture places it imdoubtedly in the 17th or early part of the 18th century. . Jonathan Danforth, Jr., lived at or near this spot, and it may have been his house. If so, it was built about the time of his marriage in 1682. His house and homestead were not deeded to him until 170S-9, and he died two years later. No record of the transfer of the property is to be found between the time of his death and that of Ephraim Kidder in 1724-5. Nevertheless, Kidder, who was an innholder. selectman and prominent citizen, left the house to his son Thomas. If he built it, he probably did so about the time of his marriage in 1685 to Rachel Crosby, daughter of Simon, whose license was published in Billerica for March, 1914. This will always be a matter of conjecture, for there is no record of his having bought the property, and his father James, who lived where Mr. J. Nelson Parker now Hves, did not leave it to him, for no mention is made of such in the inventory of his estate at his death in 1677. (Prob. # 13232 old series.)

house." The whole estate was valued at 601 pounds, quite a sum for those days. Among his papers is one signed by the heirs agreeing that wearing apparel be taken off the inventory by reason of **onr wifes having their mothers clothes." A few items from the "expenses" give an idea of the times:

In 1730, a son, Thomas, bought out the other heirs and the deed speaks of his extensive improvements, possibly referring to the raising of the long, sloping roof to its present height in back. (Grantee Vol. 131, pgs. 192-3- 4-5.) Thomas was even more prominent than his father, being selectman for seventeen years and representative in 1747-9. In the list of baptisms is found, "Pompey, Negro child belonging to Thomas Kidder, Esq., Oct. 20, 1752," so that once, at least, the old house sheltered a slave. (Vital Rec, pg. 211.)

In 1746, February 20th, Thomas Kidder sold the *' Mansion House and all the other buildings thereon" to "David Osgood of Andover." Mr. Osgood was probably the son of Christopher, who had the first grant of the water right at North Billerica, and that he continued to keep a tavern is proved by reference to him as Innholder. (Grantee Vol. 52, pg. 93.) He was selectman in 1747-9, and died in 1767. His wife sold to Solomon Pollard in 1768 for 484 pounds. (Osgood's will ;l^ 16271 old series.) (Pollard's deed, Grantee Vol. 60, pg. 122.) Captain Pollard was the son of John of North Billerica, and the brother of Asa of Bunker Hill fame. He was a captain of militia and a prominent man, so we may be certain that the old house saw stirring meetings during the Revolution and the thirty-five years that he kept tavern there. In May, 1775, an election of the 27th Middlesex regiment of foot was held here, and Ebenezer Bridge was chosen Colonel, Moses Parker, of Chelmsford, Lieut. -Colonel, and John Brooks, Governor of Massachusetts in 1818, Major. They were all commissioned in the old house (Billerica Centennial p. 142.) Bridge lived in the house now owned by Miss Mary Farmer, and was afterwards a general. At Bunker Hill he was twice wounded, and Parker died of wounds. Pollard served in the Continental Army at Cambridge during the siege of Boston. He died in 1803, and left the house to his son, Francis. To his son, Isaac, he left his "right in the Billerica Social Library," showing that this early librar\' was in existence at that time. Captain Francis died in 1813, and his wife was appointed guardian of his son, Andrew H. In 1819 she sold to John Crosby, who immediately sold to Ichabod Everett of Boston, who had married Martha Richardson in 1812. He acquired a large property, and was selectman from 1826 to 1830. On January 30, 1849, his adopted daughter, who was Julia Aim Currier, married Abel Spalding of Chelmsford. Mr. Spalding lived here till his death a few years ago, since which time the house has been owned by Mr. Sears J. Cook.

And still the old house stands, "north of the meeting-house," as all the older deeds state, having been a part of our village for 200 years and more, during which time it has sheltered only prominent citizens. Indeed, to live there seems to have carried with it the office of selectman. Except for Mr. Everett, every occupant has belonged to a family well known in our town history. The Kidders, Osgoods and Pollards are gone from us, and the old house has outlived them in Billerica. It is to be hoped that future generations will care for it as well as have past, for it has been trulv said that old famihouses are to New England as castles and ruins are to Europe.

Oreateat Time-SaTing DevlcM yet inTented. Can be applied to any Pull Socket Chain in about SO teconda. Simply cut the Chain and Splice in as shown in cut. Insulatora should be used in all Kitchens Baths, Cellars and Basements.

are supreme in every section of the store - wearing apparel for all members of the family in seasonable fabrics and styles. Special values in Rugs, Art Squares and other Floor Coverings will be noticed this month.

Oppicb At Billkrica. Massachusktt8

Though the embers of our last town meeting are somewhat cool, some discussion at this time will not be out of place as it is doubtless fresh in the minds of most of us.

Now, New England town meetings are an old and luiique institution. By many they are said to represent an ideal form of government. Their power was recognized by England in the troublesome times before the Revolution so that the revenue commission sent a secret letter to England, protesting against New England town meetings, "in which the lowest mechanics discussed the most important points of government with the utmost freedom." They were formerly held in the church, were opened by prayer, and men attending wore their best clothes.

One is led to ask if the high standard and dignity of these meetings is being maintained or if they have become commonplace. On the whole they probably rank as well as ever, but the meeting last montli seemed very poor. Men of caliber were undoubtedly there but few had much to say. The recommendations of the finance-committee were inconspicuous and were evidently made without knowledge of the new legislation which figured so prominently. And so, the greater part of the time was spent in discussing and voting upon articles forbidden by law, a ridiculous procedure. If it is impossible for the town to borrow money, why allow its citizens to vote to do or not to do so ? The article relative to building laws was lost for want of a good champion, no one understood it, least of all the one who talked most about it. 1 hen came the climax of the evening, the automobile article. There seem to be many voters who place loyalty to friends ahead of loyalty to town, a bad state of aftairs. This was shown by the noisy exit of many when the above article was carried. Its recall and defeat was skilfully handled and was a just rebuke to its partisans for their rudeness. For while it may be that efficiency demands that the town furnish certain of its agents with automobiles, if so, the honest way to gain this end, is to convince the majority of the meeting by argument, and not by a rally of friends to one's support.

The Faulkner Mills, closed after over 100 years of activity, were to have been reopened before now but the uncertain conditions brought about by the European War have made some delay in the plans of their new owners.

The annual meeting of the Shedd Family in the town hall, held August 28, should be of interest to all ttiwnspcople, especially since a plan was discussed, which may lead to the erection of a memorial building to be used by the family and the Historical Society in common. All of the Shedds in America are descended from Daniel, who settled i I Billerica in 1G59, and hved near Mrs. Sages' house.

The Jones Place

This land was first granted to John Durrant in 1659 Nov. (Hazen pg. 43). Mr. Durrant was unfortunate and "dyed in prison at Cambridge" Oct. 27, 1692. Why he was in prison is not known. Rebecca Chamberlain had the same fate the month before. Farmer (pg. 43) thinks they may have been accused of Witch Craft on account of the date, but their names do not appear in any of the Witch documents in the Mass. Archives, neither is there any record of their trial at East Cambridge for that year. Many witnesses, in connection with the Witch troubles, whose names are not given, were imprisoned at this time and this may explain their fate.

The next transfer of this property which has been found was in March 3, 1723, when Henry Jefts, Jr., sold to Nathaniel Rogers, Jr., for £100 "14 acres, bounded west by Concord River, North by land of Dea. Wm. Patten, East by the Country Road, and South by land of Edward Farmer." (Reg. Deeds, Vol. 22, pg. 521.) No buildings are mentioned in the deed.

Rogers died and on June 10, 1730, "Mary Rogers, widow, Adm. of the estate of Nath. Rogers, Jr.," sold to "Thomas Patten, Jr., of Billerica, Cooper, for £340, towards debt of Nath. Rogers, 14 acres bounded South by Oliver Farmer, West by Concord River, North land of Thomas Patten, East by Country Road, with all buildings, fences, trees, woods, underwoods, ways, water courses, profits, privileges, etc." (Vol. 32, pg. 439, Reg. Deeds.)

Something must have happened to the former house after this for on April 5, 1756 "Thomas Patten of Boston, Sadler" for £68 sold to "Isaac Foster, Junior, of Billerica, 14 acres bounded south by the Road, West by Concord River, North by land of John Shed, and East by the Country Road, being part of the estate of Mr. Thomas Patten, late of Billerica, deceased, with all fences and trees thereon standing or being." (Vol. 69, pg. 331). Both the low price and the fact that no buildings are mentioned go to prove that Foster bought the land without buildings. Then the assumption is that Foster built the present house some time after 1756. Isaac Foster was a joiner and came to Billerica from Ipswich some time near 1744 when he married Sarah Brown, daughter of John. His will was proved April 10, 1783 (Hazen pg. 54). Before his death, however on Feb. 10, 1780, Isaac Foster, yeoman," gave to his "sons, Joseph, joiner, and Samuel, husband man all of his real estate, land and buildings." (Vol. 86, pg. 469.)

On Feb. 25, 1789 "Joseph Foster, Joiner, sold to Joseph Hill, yeoman for £110, "18 acres, with Dwelling Home, Barn and Joiners Shop, bounded south by road from Billerica meeting house to Chelmsford, 80 poles, to Concord River, West by said River, North by Land of John Shed, and East by the Country Road." (Vol. 100, pg. 39.)

Joseph Hill was a man of wealth and lived at the present Patterson place in the old house torn down after 1850. He probably never lived in the Jones house, for he died very soon and on June 10, 1793, "Isaac Stearns, Adm., of the estate of Joseph Hill, later of Billerica" sold to "Reuben Duren of Bedford, Housewright, 18 acres with Dwelling House, Bam and Joiner's Shop," the bounds being

A law suit occured at this time as "Samuel Foster, physician, of New Ipswich, N. H.," who had been given one-half of his father's estate, claimed that he had never sold out to his brother Joseph. In fact, no sale was ever recorded, but at the trial, several witnesses testified that Samuel had told them of selling his share to Joseph for £40. Duren's title was held to be valid. The amount of this trial with all papers concerning it are deposited with the Isaac Steams papers before mentioned. (Mass. Historical Soc. Archives).

Reuben Duren was bom in Billerica, Feb. 21), 1747-48, the son of Abraham, and great grandson of John, the original owner of this land, mentioned above. He married Mary Gould of Chelmsford and lived in Bedford till he purchased the Jones place. He was an architect of churches, and bridges, and is said by some to have built the Judge Locke and Franklin Jaquith houses. He drew a design for a church at the time the present Unitarian church was built, but it was decided to build one modelled after the former one. Mr. Mansfield who remodelled the church in 1844 is said to have learned his trade of Duren, who died Jan. 4, 1821.

On May 6, 1795, "Reuben Duren, houseright," sold "to Thomas Richardson, Gentleman" for £500, 20 acres, more or less, bounded on the south by the Road from Billerica to Chelmsford, on the west by the River by the old Bridge, north by John Shed, and East by the Town Road, with all buildings," except that Duren reserved for himself, "the Grains, and Tramils in the House and the Lathes, Benches and Vises in the shops." From then on the place was the well-known Richardson Tavern Richardson \vas a native of Billerica, born here

Sept. 3, 1747. His wealth is attested by the title Gentleman, after his name. He kept tavem here till his death. He held the office of selectman in 1797. His death is not recorded in Billerica but occured, before 1836 as his heirs made the next transfer.

On April 19, 1836, Artemas Rogers, and Lydia Rogers, of Fitchburg, sold to Anthony Jones, yeoman for $1000, "the undivided half of the land and buildings of the Richardson except what is sold to the Baptist Society for a meeting house." It was called 17 acres 6 poles. At the same time Jones bought of "Elizabeth Richardson, ot Boston, Spinster," the other half. (Vol. 356, pgs. 145 and 146.)

Anthony Jones was born in Sudbury, March 3, 1811, and died in Billerica about 25 yea^s ago. He was a successful trader, and lived on the old place all of the time after he came to Billerica except from May 5, 1847 to May 30, 18 i9, when he sold to Moses Child of Dracut, but soon bought back. After his death his daughter Mrs. Nellie Maria Bemis, lived on the place for a few years, since which time it has been owned and occupied by his grandson, Albert Howard Jones.

In closing this account the "Corner" itself should not be slighted. What is now known as "Jones Corner," was for many years an active* centre. With the Richardson Tavem, at the Jones place, a grocery store at the Burton place, a blacksmith shop on the Osgood corner, a hotel at Preston's, the Baptist church on the knoll cast of the bridge, and a tannery and shoe shop near the scene was far different from today.

Concord River

oi the Massachusetts Historical Society, show that Shad and Alewives formerly frequented the Concord river. The second is an example oi an early fish law.

To his Excellency Thomas Gage, £sqr. To the Honble, his Majesty's Council and House of Representatives of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay assembled at Boston, May ye 25th, 1772.

The petitioners of the Town of Concord & Billerica Humbly showeth that John Ford of Chelmsford in the county of Middlesex yeoman, has erected a saw mil and a mil dam a cross Concord River near the mouth of said River which said mil & dam has Almost totally stopt the Passing up of the Shad & Alwives in said River for two Seasons past and unless something be speedily done to remove these obstructions their course up said Stream will be wholly Broak to the great Damage of the pubiick your Petitioners made application to the court of sessions Held at Cambridge in the County of Middlesex Twentieth of May,

& Dam which Comtee when they had served Reported as follows we are of opinion that sd obstruction will wholly destroy the course of the Fish unles speedily removd. We then made application at September Term for a Committee to remove sd obstruction or make sufficient passage for sd Fish after some debating in the Court wheather they had power to remove sd obstruction or not we obtained a committee whose report was as follows that with the consent of the parties a pas way of such and such dimentions should be tried for one year or season but the said Ford did not make such provision as was agreed upon and if he had we are of the opinion that it would by no means answer the end.

Your petitioners therefore Humbly pray that this Honorable Court would give orders for the removing said Mil & Dam or such part or parts thereof as shall be found necessary to make & seurve a sufficient passing for the Fish or in some other way Relieve your petitioners as you in your great wisdom shall think fit that the pubiick be not deprived of so great a privelidge as that Beautiful display of Wisdom and goodness disposing the Fish to Transport them selves free of charge to the poor of the land that they as it wer for once in tlie year might get their fill of Bread

We, the subscribers being chosen & sworn to take care that no person catch Shad or Alewives in any of the streams which empty into the Mearimack running through Billerica on any other Days than those which the late Act gives liberty for which are from sun set on Monday to sun set on Thursday we therefore stricktly forbid all from catching on any other days and also making or having any wares setting any pots or putting any obstruction to hinder their running up on any other day as they would avoid the penality of the Law in that case mad & providing which is Twenty pounds & halfe to the complainer.

The photographs used by Billerica are the work of Mr. Charles Otis, 84 Pinckney St., Boston. Any one desiring copies or enlargements should communicate with him as he now has plates of many of the older houses of the town.

Osgood Brown

Among the papers of Isaac Steams, depointed in the Mass. Historical Society Archives, are several relating to a trip to New York by Mr. Steams, in the interest of Oscfood Brown, a Billerica boy. The following petition to Governor Clinton gives an outline of the boy's story :

Mav it please your excellency there is a young man now in this city gaol, under a sentence of Death, who descended from a resnectable and Worthy familv in the Bav State whose anxiety and trembltne of Heart might affect everv beholder.

He enlisted into the servis of his country at the age of fifteen, was taken and lay in goal in England more than a year, when by threats and hard usaee and threats he was compeled on board a Man of War from whom he made his escape on one of the West India Islands found means to ship himself to this state but in such distrest cirt umstances that he was ashamed to return home which to geather with bad advisers as he says has led him into the Theft for which he now stands condemed and abhors himself and repents in Dust and Ashes and there is no other Hope or Help but from your Excellency's pardon which I should not presume to ask did I not hope and believe that he if spaired in sted of being a pest to mankind will be a useful member of societv. I do therefore in behalf e of his distrest Parents and other Respectable Relations humblv & eamcftlv implore vour exccllencv's interpolition so far as is consistant vvith your Honor and the welfare of the people over whom vou preside and farther, I would disdain to ask it. (Signed Isaac Stearns).

3. Letter to James Rammage, Osgood Brown, Joseph Alexander and John Smith, "those under sentence of death" signed "Isaac, Steams, Memento Mori."

I, for value reed, promise to Mr. Joseph Clement the sum of »")ne Hundred and lifty pounds lawful money of this state on the Dav when Osgood Brown shall be pardoned.

Isaac Stearns

Note - Osgood Brown was probably the son of Timothv Brown, born in Billerica May 24. 1733, ^' whose wife was Dorcas Osgood. Mr. Brown was a merchant in what is now Lowell and was a Colonel in the Revolution. Osgood Brown enlisted as a private in Capt. Amos Foster's Co. Tth Middlesex Regt. July 28, 1780 and was discharged Oct. 30, 1 780, serving 3 mos. 8 days ji Rhode Island.

Office At Billerica. Massachusetts

We are very glad this month to print two contributions from persons not connected in any way with this paper. The first is a letter from Mr. Seth Crosby, who was born in Billerica, but has not lived here for many years, and concerns the Red School House, a picture of which was printed in the October, 1913 issue, together with a story of the house printed in the September and October numbers for 1913. The second is an article contributed by a former teacher in an Agricultural College who is very enthusiastic over New England's agricultural future. Also, a beginning is to be made on the task of printing our town records. As long ago as 1883, this was projected, but never accomplished. We are to begin with Book 4 from 1753 to 1789, the Revolutionary volume, because certain funds are available for this purpose. It is hoped that enough will be interested in this work to make publicatHth possible.

This issue concludes the Howe School article, though it is hoped a little later to print a list of Trustees, Teachers and Students, thus completing the record of the school from 1852 to 1914.

The Red School-House

Following is a letter from Mr. Seth Crosby, of Wakefield, which tells not only of the Red School-house but of district school life in the past. *T do not know of any subject you could have asked me to write on that would have pleased me more, for first of all, coming from dear old Billerica in which my early childhood days were spent traveling over its roads and byways and along its rivers and lakes, all of which bear the dearest memories. I am the last of the old Crosby family and in fact nearly all my old associates I knew in my childhood days are gone.

There are volumes of pleasant recollections both serious and comic hovering around and about the old Red School House. I go there often and if I were younger would try to own it. I went there to school as did all our family. When I was about 5 years of age and continued for 7 years when I was admitted to the Howe School and from there I launched out into real life in the world. I have travelled over nearly every country in the old world and nearly every part of our country, being now 73 years of age January next. But about the old school, I do not seem to remember many of the earlier teachers of the school, of course we had a man for the winter term and a lady for the summer. Mr. Judkins was the first tliat I knew, who was told that he would have a hard time with the boys, some of whom were nearly 21 years. He had a very fierce look, whiskers all over his face and sharp eyes. I was frightened w^hen I looked at him as were nearly all the scholars. We took our seats allotted to us and he went to his desk, took from under his coat a very long ruler, which he slammed down on the desk, but said nothing, but I think it had its effect for all of us sat up and took notice. I think it was a sequel to his success which was nearly perfect. Previous to this and before I went to school my sister taught for several terms. She used to relate an experience she had; Deacon Jerry Crosby was committeeman for that district, he was rather a pompous man and had a way ot smacking his hps when he spoke. Ue came into school one day, placed his tall hat on the desk, looked around the room and turning to her said, **Well, Miss Crosby, does the schoolhouse smoke much f* She smiled, but she knew what he meant and she said, "Well, the stove and pipe smoke badly," which I fotmd to be true as some time after I was elected to build the fire in the morning during a winter which was the coldest I have ever experienced. Deacon Crosby was a gentleman of the old school and highly respected. Mr. Durgin came to teach soon after and had fairly good success. He wore the usual high hat which was rather unfortunate as the boys and I must say some of the girls used it for a target at times. He had a way of bringing his lunch which he placed in his overcoat pocket. Some of the boys said it was better than they got at home. We, that is those who lived a long distance, used to bring our lunch and many a lively time ensued during the eating which required the use of the broom to set things to rights. Next we had a young student. He was not a success and he declared that there were the worst boys in the school that he ever saw, he did not know who was worst, and he got into a rage over it and said he would have to call them each out and give him a severe flogging. The boys evidently thought differently as some of them came forward, took him up and carried him out and buried him in a huge snow-drift. He took his hat and coat and we never saw him again.

There are so many things that happened around the old school that time and paper will not suffice. I remember there came a time when the house should be painted, also a wood-shed was wanted. A great deal of talk was made and finally the matter was taken into town-meeting but was not

On many of the desks and on the walls were cut the initials of some of the scholars, many of whom made their mark in the world later. We had many fine teachers. 1 well remember one who would allow us to go to the pond and get some fish and cook them on the old wood stove, which we scholars thought was a very large qualification for a good teacher. The Kev. Mr. Stearns was committeeman for a long time, he preached at the Orthodox Church. He was a very sad looking man and in winter he wore a tall hat and very long coat, and when he came into school we all felt a shiver over us. One bright day he came in, placed his hat on a chair near the door, and the teacher called his attention to the day and asked him to look out on the huge snow banks. One of the boys came in with a handful of snow, put it in his hat and when he went to get it to go, he placed it on his head, bowing to the school very profusely, you can imagine the result. Mr. Stearns was a highly respected Christian man.

Many of the scholars who were nearly 20 years old were just learning the alphabet, yet some of them made able citizens. My last teacher was a lady, Miss Snow. She was beloved by all and I remember when examination day came, and all the exercises were over and songs sung, she rose to say a word to all but was so overcome that she could not speak. There was not a dry eye in the room. She had iome presents for us but had to kt the mitlee men give them.

Political' meetings were held in the old house, many a wrangle took place in them, also, I must not forget the singing school. We had, for music, a fiddle, owned and played by John Allen, whose intentions were of the best, if his tune was not. Also the library, sni.ill but good, given to the school, was thought a great thing and was talked about much. It would look small now. The old fashioned spelling school was a feature of the old house and was quite exciting and I may say here, that after reading this effusion you will say that I, for one, did not benefit much by the spelling school." Wakefield, July, ll)i:5.

Our Unused Fields

A large percentage of the tillable New Ergland land is neglecl«-d by th^f present owners, and by thi student o* affairs. The last census report says of Massachusetts.

Let us remember too that only ono per rent, of the land in these New Eiighmd states now prodcf^cs all th^ potatoes we use, and that less than one per cent, generously supplies our markets with truck crops. The potato growers in Aroostook county and the truck farmers are prosperous, meanwhile our hay and grain dealers agree with the census in the statement that the production of ** world-market crops" such as hay, grain and meat is steadily declining. This is contrary to the assertion of many editorial farmers, and over optimistic educators, but it is nevertheless true that we have 5000 less cows in Massachusetts than we had a year ago, and that we produce sufficient cereals, hay and meat to furuifth the staples of life to itnl our population only ten days in 4MIi year. Is it not in order to ask lAy this i^ so, and to study profitable ftt practical methods of producin;j gtneral crops on this neglected 98 per cent, of our land?

If general farming were profitable we should find a rapid growth in our corn and hay acreage just as prosperity has made Aroostook potato acreage grow so rapidly.

the intensive methods of the truck grower and use $30 worth of fertilizer and expend even more money in labor on eacn acre. This advice does not consider the fact that an acre ot perishable crops like potatoes, asparagus, or strawberries is worth from $;^UU to $()00 and that $<'5 in labor and fertilizer is a reasonable investment for each acre. On the other hand an equally good crop of com, wheat, or hay is worth about $^0 and a proportionate fertilizer bill must not exceed $2 per acre. In no case should the fertilizer cost be much more than onetenth the value of the crop at wholesale prices. There are many other expenses such as rent, taxes, labor, machinery and risks to absorb quite a large share of the remaining nine-tenths of the proceeds. Then too if we grow corn, hay, and meat we must compete with the new sections where machinery reduces labor costs, and where the fertihzer bill is unknown. It is true that these sections are beginning the use of some forms of plant food, but the expenditure recommended by the different state experiment stations seldom exceeds $2 per acre per year. It is interestifig to note how these western and southern states are approaching this problem. Contrary to the usual advice against soil analysis, many states, among them Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Iowa, Mississippi, Wisconsin, and Indiana, have mapped their various soil areas, and have analyzed each type. They find too that when analysis reveals a weakness in a certain element, experience shows that the use of that element increases the crops. A single analysis means little, unless we know what a truly productive soil contains. F. Wohltniann, a German investigator, states that standard productive soils in Holland and Germany needing no fertilizer contain in the plowed strata 7 inches deep, the following pounds of plant food per acre. Phosphorus 2000 lbs., Nitrogen 6000 pounds, Magnesium 10,000 pounds, s : Icium 20,000 pounds, and potassium

Potassium 35000 pounds This inventory shows a dehciency in both calcium and phosphorus, and tiie application of hberal amounts of tiiese two elements is producing increased crops and is used with marked proht. On the same soils nitrogen and potassium give little or no increase, and are used at a decided loss. This is to be expected from a study of the above figures.

A few analyses have been made of New England soils, with results about as follows for the average loam. Phosphorus 1100 pounds Nitrogen 2000 pounds

Potassium 25000 pounds Compared with the Central States soil or with that of the fertile Holland land this shows a marked deficiency in calcium, and nitrogen. The rich soils are nearly four to six times as rich in these two elements as our own. Without the use of plant food they produce crops four times as large.

In our next issue we will have something to say of the experimental evidence pointing the answer to the question ; ** What shall we do with our unused tillable land ?"

spoke of Mr. Pemberton as an excellent instructor and an amiable man. Maulius in his diary, describes Billerica as "a very old town, which seems to have acquired the habit of standing still: yet" he says "it was and ever will be full of interest.*' (Lucius Maulius Sargent, page 180, Memoirs deceased Members, New Eng. Hist. Gen. Soc. 1878).

Mr. Pemberton and his academy men mentioned in the July, 1914 issue of Billerica. His picture and a medal given at his academy are in the collection of the Billerica Historical Society in the Library.

Howe School

2. Feb. 18, 1880, James Russell Spaulding of Boston, son of Dea. Amos Spaulding, one of the original Trustee lett his father's farm to the school with no restriction as to the use of the income.

3. March 5, 1887, Miss Abby L. Faulkner gave $5,000 in memory of her parents James R. and Catherine R. Faulkner. The income of half of this was to be used for care of grounds or building, and from the other half for the purchase of books and apparatus.

4. December 16, 1887, a relative of the late Jacob O. Rogers gave $500 for a "Free Scholarship in the Howe School. This was to be given to a Resident of Billerica who needed and deserved such aid.

5. April 13, 190, under the will of Robert Charles Billings of Boston $7500 was given to the Trustees to be known as the Robert Ciiarjes Billings Fund.

Five catalogues have been published a complete set of which is soon to be given the Historical Society. Their dat^ are 1861, 1866, 1872, 1880 and 1897. The 1872 is especially interesting as it contains Mr. Whitman's address at the dedication of the school.

Billerica Town Records Page 1

same meeting Thomas Hosley was chosen Grand jurymaiv; and Samuel Richardson and Ephraim Kidder were drawn out of the box to serve on the Jury of trials at the next Court at Charlston and the other offi- :ers chosen are as followeth:

Surveyors of Highways William French Jun'r Thomas Levestone Nathaniel Ciimings James Fro^ Samuel Richardson Samuel Blanchard A1>raham Durant

At the same meeting the question was put whether the Town would choose Assessors in a seperat office from the Selectmen and it passed in the neerative and then the question was put whether they would choose overseers of the poor in a seperate office from the selectmen it passed in the negative, and then it was voted to choose the other officers by nomination and not by written vote . . it was voted to adjourn this meeting till tomorrow morning nine oclock: and then the moderator declared that the meeting was adjourned,

Holiday Buying

Early this season for many reasons. There'll be no duplicating of import stocks and domestic goods will be scarce. Prices are bound to go up. Then too there's the thought of better service, and last but not least, the help you give to the salespeople.

A Retail Sales Office Is Conducted At The Mills

Once more we urge our townsmen to contribute articles for publication in Billerica. Recollections are especially sought, as well as opinions on town aflfairs or any other material that will be of interest to our readers. Inquiry has been made as to the source of the picture pubHshed in the July issue. This is from a wood-cut first printed in Barbers Historical Collections in 1839. It is said that Mr. Barber went to each town and made his own sketch, then his own wood-cut from it. These books may be obtained at any old book store at from $1.00 to $3.00. Great difficulty is experienced in getting adequate and correct accounts of Billerica activities and all societies are asked to forward reports of meetings, etc., for publication. If any are interested in the genealogy of any Billerica family, we will be glad to advise as to means of research and to print their findings in Billerica.

"Elijah F. Paige, 92 years and 9 months, the oldest man in Billerica, died at his home on Boston Road, Thursday morning, October 22i\d., soon after 8 o'clock. His strength, which had been unusually good all his life, failed a few weeks before his death and the end came peacefully.

Mr. Paige, the first of a family of 8 children, was bom in Bradford, Vt., the son of Christopher and Maria Leslie Paige. He married Lucy A. Griswold of Chicopee, Mass., whom he survived 10 years.

Though interested in several small business affairs in early life, all his interests centered in the mill business until he retired 20 years ago. He was a life long Unitarian and staunch Republican. His faculties were keen to the last - inquiring the night before^ he died for "the latest news of the European War." "He never tired of relating anecdotes of Daniel Webster, whom he knew intimately in boyhood because of Mr. Webster's marriage to his father's sister Grace Fletcher Paige. Indeed, his acquaintance and knowledge of people of his generation made his reminisences most entertaining."

Maps Of Region

Thifi publication is to be issued for a year, and longer if it is adequately supported. This is with Uie belief that there are enough people interested in monthly studies of a comprehensive development of thoroughfares, reservations, business, residential and cultural districts of this North Shore region in which natural conditions have fixed easily distinguishable boundaries and particularly attractive features of topography and vegetation.

Identity of interests as fixed by the lay of the land and the mobility of the travel of today is already beginning to break down the artificial town and county barriers with their multiplicity of officials and costs.

The natural beauty of topographic conditions and of vegetation that give every topographic unit its distinction, is coming to be more accepted as an essential factor in comprehensive planning, as well as iho fact that main thoroughfares and reservations add enough value to adjacent properties to justify the owners in giving a certain per cent of their land for such purposes. FHthernioro, many more individuals are yearly (coming to recognize that it is a part of their civic duty to aid in all ways in the planning, that is so fundamentally important to all the people and that they should have a regard for their neighbors' interest as well as their oA^-n. THE DIRECTOR.

John H. Armington, published for the Geographic Society of Chicago by the University of Chicago Press, 1914, and to the "Annual Meterological Summary, 1913," publislied by U. S. Weather Bureau, Chicago, 111.

series of articles on the value of our native herbs in the garden. He is a retired business man, who has devoted his time and his home grounds to a study of hardy plants, and his notes are of immense value as a faithful record, because they are based on a very genuine love and appreciation of the beauty of the plants and their associations, coupled with an expert cultural knowledge and administrative skill that permits him to spend the most of his time showing has friends and visitors the beaut}- of his grounds.

Briar Hall, the estate of Mrs. Byron L. Smith of Lake Forest, is believed' to have the finest collection of evergreens in the North Shore region today. They were planted not only to test their horticultural value, but also their landscape value on the exposed shore clay bluffs and sandy beaches. Tlie plantations are a notable memorial to a man who loved the l^eauty of lawns and landscapes. The article on "Pines that grow well in Ijake Forest," has been prepared by Mr. Emil Bollinger, who has been sujierintendent at Briar Hall for more than two decades. No notes on this work liave heretofore been published. This article on Pines will be followed by others on Spruces, Firs, Hemlooks, and other conifers.

^Ir. Stephen F. Hamblin, who has made plan notes at "WaJden" on its topography and vegetation, in his article on 'The Woods of the North Shore" shows his knowledge and appreciation of tlie beauty of these woods. He will be identified with the preparation of future issues.

Climatic Diagrams

Views into narrow steep-sided ravines to the tops of old trees and into their shadowy depths, with a shrub and herb carpet that constantly changes in variety, fonn, and color.

Beach sand and gravel at the shore; clay from the bluffs to the Skokie; black prairie soil beyond. The clay and black soil bake hard and crack in drought.

A mid-temperate flora rich in woody plants and herbs, with a few. cone-bearing trees and no broad-leaved evergreens. Few disai?trous insect pests or fungous diseases have yet appeared.

Winter moderately cold, ground not usually frozen hard or continuously snowcovered until Christmas, then about six weeks of zero weather and snow.

1. Black lines begin at the left at the time of the lowest winter temperature and end with the highest summer temperature of each year from 1871-1910. The lowest line shows the "mean" or average of all these years.

3. The black lines begin at the left at the time of the last light spring frost (40**), and end at the first fall frost. The lowest line shows the "mean" or average of each year from 1871-1910.

4. Each shaded line is the "mean" or average frosts for the period from 1871- 1910. Each solid line is for 1913. A - from last light spring frost (40') to first fall frost; B - killing frost; C - 32**; D - 43*; E - period of snowfall.

6. Shaded columns show accumulated precipitation in inches by months; solid columns the monthly normal amounts, and heavy line the accumulated normal.

Shore Region

The gardens of the North Shore region are already becoming well-known among garden lovers of this country, partly because of their variety, but more because of their personal individual charm. As we progress in their study, we shall perhaps make them more widely known, not so much as individual gardens, but in the part that they play in giving pleasure to the community as a whole and to those who pass on the highway.

Since no material is yet at hand to enable us to make detailed suggestions about actual gardens or their tendencies, it was thought advisable in this first number to indicate some of the usual types of garden design that have already made their appearance in the North Shore region, or that may be expected soon to appear. While not final definitions of the forms that gardens may take, either here or elsewhere, these notes will give us a working basis upon which we can place our further study of the gardens of tliis region, and serve as an outline of methods to home lovers who are contemplating garden making.

In general, garden making may be classed as either formal or informal. In the formal design of gardens, nature is made to fit some plan as conceived by man; in informal arrangements the plan is made to fit into the existing natural features. With this simple distinction in mind, we can review gardens as they have been built.

The formal gardens of the past have become models for the larger gardens of today. They first reached a high state in Italy and are known as Itiilian gardens, although as f ambus ones are found in France, England, and other European countries, and there are not a few in America. The gardens of Versailles in particular show the most costly and extensive development of this style of gardening. Gardens that embody many of these principles are appearing in the North Shore section, especially on the largest estates, for such gardens are always laid out in a grand style.

Tlie old-fashioned gardens of our grandmothers were essentiaUy formal in character, whether on the scale of that at Mt. Vernon, or the little front yards in old Salem or elsewhere. 'They were of a simple geometrical arrangement, with walks for easy access, from which to view attractive parterres full of flowers, with seats and shelters for comfort and convenience. Something of the spitrit of simplicity of these old gardens is entering again into the smaller gardens of today, along with an appreciation of the simple types of flowers that were there

Some of America's gardens have been designed by architects in close connection with the home structures. In such gardens arcliitectural features often dominate, the vegetation being merely an ornamental accessory. The topiary garden, in which the principal features are trees cut to formal or erratic shapes, as shown at Levens Hall in England, is also represented at the Ilunnewell estate at Wellesley, Mass. The area so treated varies from a small enclosed court to some large area near buildings, enclosed by walls and hedges. Here the strictly formal and the more informal may meet, as many American gardens witness.

Another style of gardening known as "carpet bedding," a geometrical arrangement of plants, at one time axceedingly |X)pular, is now confined to a few public parks and to a very limited number of private esitates.

The natural or informal style of gardening began as a revolt against excessive formality. Today the greater part of our garden operation is the result of modem modifications of the principles of gardening as first inaugurated in the great private j)arks of England.

From a desire to allow the works of nature to predominate in garden operations, the next stage was an ambition to imitate in planting the arrangements of nature so that even the hand of man would be concealed. This idea of "wild gardening'' was often carried to extremes, particularly in England, where this kind of gardening first found wide favor.

In England, too, was evolved the idea of the "hardy ])order,'' the grouping of hardy perennials in a natural way, modified bv the conditions about our homes. A great many estatcrJ of lai"ge size, as well as small lots, have found tliis method, adapted to our ways of living, the best solution for the arrangement of their gardens.

Gardens that are particularly influenced by the existing features of the ground surface, as rock gardens, water gardens, etc., are more recent phases of natural gardening. They depend upon their fidelity to nature in fitness to their site, and in the details of their arrangement, for their beauty. It may be that there are few places in the North Shore region that suggest the use of rocks or water, but think of what use can be made of the woodlands, the cool ravines^ and steep sunny bluffs.

The gardens of Japan are not natural gardens in the usual sense; nor are they formal gardens as usually defined. They differ from all western gardens in that they represent by certain symbolic type forms the natural landscape features of Japan. By their very nature they are not suited to be boldly copied in other countries, but the principles by which they are builded are of universal application, and are finding their way into the American gardens of today.

Special gardens, that may be either formally or informally treated, are now common. We have many seasonal gardens, as a spring or early fall garden, gaidens devoted to special colors, and gardens for particular kinds of plants, as rose or iris gardens. These are destined to be seen more and more as the garden art becomes more intensive.

There need be no monotony of arrangement in the gardens of any region. Examples enough have we of what is truly artistic and expressive that no one need copy his neighbor. It remains to be seen what the North Shore will do to make its gardens expressive of the peculiarly distinctive landscape phases of the region in the garden life of the community and of the individual owners.

Landscape Design

Our Biblical history began the life of a man and a woman in a garden, and even in the days of Genesis and Exodus, men in their nomadic tents began to build the altars of their faith of enduring material, of eartli, of "whole stones," of shittim wood, the vessels and im]>lements to be of brass and not of iron. They built their "arks of the covenant'' for the tented "tabeniacle" of shittim wood and "pure gold.'^ Thereafter the more enduring "temples," palaces and homes were constructed in part of hewn stone.

The architectural structures were designed with" sculpture and to a lesser degree painting, as accessories, to give enduring expression to the faith and philosophy of the people, and to the dominance of their overlords.

The gardens were designed to express never-ending renewals of fruitfulness of home joys, comforts and sentiments; and to ornament the sanctuaries. "Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice : cause me to hear it." "My beloved is gone down into his garden, to beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies." "The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious."

The appreciation of the elements of landscape in the early days was determined largely by the value for the support of herds and crops and by the awe-inspiring natural phenomena. This appreciation even up to the days of Homer did not include the beauty of color, texture, light and shade, water reflection and the atmospheric gradations of distance that we so highly appreciate today.

The Biblical writers recognized cloud forms in "a pillar of clouds," the "obscurity," and the "glory" of the clouds, the "majesty" of the thunder and lightning, the power of "a rushing, mighty wind," "the noise of many waters," the dominence of such high places as Mount Sinai, and the cultural beauty of the river valleys, slopes, vineyards, and groves.

The meagreness of the recognition of color in landscape is indicated by: "a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald," one of the very few references to color in landscape incidents. In describing fabrics and structures, blue, purple, scarlet, and crimson are the colors in frequent use, but references are often made to a likeness in color to metals and

Color recognition came with the art of painting, first of the human figure with its mythological, religious and sentimental associations, and with which were incidental crude landscai)e backgrounds. Such landscape incidents were gradually developed into the art of landscape painting, in which drawing, coloring and expression of beauty, sentiment and action approached in excellence the presentation of the human form.

The design of the living landj^cape for economic and aesthetic purposes liad an early beginning. Fully four thousand years ago the Emperor of Cliina appointed "the great Yu" Superintendent of Works and directed him to canalize the rivers. He devoted thirteen years to this work, and produced a plan which is even today being worked out. Ancient Babylon produced one of the seven wonders of the world in the form of great hanging gardens. The Persian Scriptures reveal an appreciation for nature quite un- })aralleled : "If thou canst not be a teacher and messenger of my religion, then make my world beautiful, make my world grow in harmony, fmitfulness and perfection."

Then came tlie more modem designers of the living landscapes and gardens for individuals, and in recent years garden and park patches and strips in towns and even counties for the public, with buildings often studied and located as a part of the landscape composition. Parts of towns and whole towns are also being designed with reference to their affectiveness in landscape.

In a rapidly increasing ratio is such M^ork undertaken by the profession in which the practitioners call tlieraselves landscape gardeners, landscape aix^hitects, landscape designers and city planners.

Next will come the designers of landscapes for the district, the state and the nation in which the architectural structr ures are no more important than are lakes, rivers, hills, fields and great thoroughfares, in the series of distinctive landscape units that may be included in the day's or week's outing in auto or train.

the future, because it Ls tlie art that oan be appreciated and thoroughly enjoyed by the great mass of the people in their daily life and in which each home may take its place as a part of a great landscape composition.

In each locality, or rather in each landscape unit, throughout our country, tliere are but very few view points from which an. artist's ideal broad landscape composition may be secured or developed with changes that are practicable. Such view points will be sought out and recorded as are the masterpieces of art. Tliey will be purchased for their beauty just as paintings are purchased. The purchasers will include enough land, usually a limited area, to protect the point of view, and within the range of detail vision will acquire the features that control the landscape beauty, such as trees and groups of trees, forest to be retained unimpaired or broken into groups, barren field to be left as a barren or to be made a forest, and swamps to be made meadow or lake. The dominant lines of the distant hills, and broad valleys, the great lakes, and the sea cannot and need not be purchased.

The acquirement and development of such big living pictures will make an appeal to those who feel the pent-up restraint of the shut-in lawois and gardens where such exquisite perfection of detail prevails that a scrap of waste paper is an exasperating irritation, and a chip from a fountain curb an ever-present sorrow.

Men and women \iath big vision will add to their pleasure, their health, and their years by rides through miles of fields and roads to locate and study the details that make up tlie pictorial com- I>osition of the living landscape. Think what a lasting memorial gift to a grateful posterity such a picture would be as compared with painted canvas or such structures of "everlasting" brick and stone as is represented by the Appian Way, where the mighty Roman emperors built tlieir enduring momuments that are now irredeemable heaps of ruin and dust. Even here the land and its contour still persists though covered by ruins, and only needs the clothing of foliage to restore beauty.

North Shore Region

A no more typical representation of the meeting of the prairies and the woods -can be found than in that tract known as the North Shore, where forked ton^i^ues of high prairie land invade the precincts of the forest. The Prairie Lily and its moisture loving sister, the Turk's Cap Lily, nod in friendly compajiionship to their sylvan neighbor, the Wood Lily, and the Shooting Star and the Hepatica almost sit in the same pew.

Blest are they who possess a heavily urooded ravine, for in its deep recesses are found a host of early bloomers which revel while they can in the sunshine that filters through the leafless branches overhead, and then sink into slumber under the shadowv blanket of a summer^s verdue; but ere the memory of their charms has faded they appear again, forerunners of our summer treasures.

Tliis commingling by nature of the flora of the fields and woods says to us, "Go thou and do likewise." In tlie planting of our grounds there are two methods to he considered, - one, the wild planting, in which additions are made to the plants already existing, either of tlie same kind -or other natives, or even exotics^ provided they are robust enough to maintain their part in the battle of life, and are of such character that they look as if they belonged there. The other method is that -of our flower borders and formal beds.

One of the most charming, and at the same time satisfactory, plants T know of for massing and naturalizing on the borders of our ravines, in open woodland, glades, or even under lai-gc groups of 8hnil)s or low-branched trees, is the spring blooming Virginian Blue-bell (Mertensia pulmonarioides, syr. M. Virginica) which should be planted any time between August and November. This plant loses its foliage soon after blooming, but reappears the following spring. If planted under trees or old shrubs whose roots seem to be almost at the surface, it is well to place five or six inches of good soil on the surface before planting. Plant ten to twelve inches apart. The rains have carried the seed of my plants down the ravine bank and created new colonies. As this plant blooms before the foliage of the branches overhead are out, their delicate blue bells and pink buds are readily seen.

Where ravine banks or open woods are absent, a planting under the broadly spreading pendant branches of the Golden Bell (Forsythia intennedia) has a pretty efifect for the beauty of the robin's-egg blue of the Mertensia is enhanced when seen through the veil of the Forsythia's yellow bells, and the fresh foliage of the shrubs afterwards hides the fading garments of tlie Miss Mertensia. I have a group planted in this way which has been there some eight years and is still happy.

The next "wild plant" in the chain of my affections, whose charms are in liarmony with the surroundings we have to offer them, is the biennial Thinleaved Coneflower (Rudbeckia triloba) a native of Northern Illinois and generally found in dry open woods. While it is a true liiennial, dying after it has bloomed, it reproduces itself so freely when once established that it remains forevermore. If plants should come up where not wanted, they are readily transplanted. It is not found in our clay loam, as it likes an open, free soil. Where seedlings appear in our unworked soil, they have a stunted dwarf growth and then resemble somewhat our native "Black-eyed Susan," (Rudbeckia liirta), but if given the ordinary cultivated garden soil, they become stately plants to some three feet in height and sometimes as broad - in fact, a glorified ** Black-eyed Susan." They are covered with a mass of small orange-rayed fiowers bearing a rather flat, rich brown cone. I have always said that one could not look at a plant of it in bloom and feel blue, und I almost put my anns around an clderlv ladv visitor latelv when she remarked, "How happy it makes one feel to look at it," for she saw it in the same light that I did.

tliat we welcome any plant which will come to our relief^ and in this Rudbeckia we find one. All it asks is a worked soil and five or more feet head room, and its flowers will glisten in the darkness and give a wealth of bloom from August until frost. The plants may not be as large as those in full sun, and should be planted two feet apart, while those in the open require fully three feet.

A few plants should be grown in the full sun in the vegetable garden or spare place, and if in a situation exposed to winds, should have their main stem securely tied to a stake and a string run around the outer branches, like a hoop on a barrel, and two or three strings run from it to the main stake The side branches are somewhat brittle and often break in the wind. . When the plant is in full bloom, give it a good soaking at the roots, dig up carefully and put in a ten or twelve inch pot, placing it in a shed out of the wind and sun for a day. Remove the outer string and perhaps the stake and place it on your porch or in the house - out of the sun and winds - and it will remain in bloom and fresh looking for a month or more; or take it up carefully, root and all, wash off all soil with a hose and let the roots stand awhile in a tub of water. Then place it in a large opaqne vase filled with w^ater and you will have a handsome bouquet arranged by nature that will last in perfection several days if kept from droughts.

The perennial Rudbeckias are all worthy of a place in the garden, either in the flower-decked border or as "natives" in the wild. Among the taller growing species is the Southern Coneflower (Rudbeckia nitida) with its improved form "Autumn Sun,'^ and the Tall Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata) which in a freakish moment changed most of its host of the individual flowers that grace its cone into ray floriets and gave us what John Lewis Childs christened "(rolden Glow," the transformation evidently taking place in the Illinois prairies where it is native.

It might be well to mention here for the benefit of the uninitiated, that the true flowers of the Rudbeckia (those having a pistil and stamens capable of producing seed) are situated in countless numbers on the cone, and their color, yellow, is hardly noticeable; while the long narrow yellow floriets are what attract our eye and give color to the "flower."

Of tlie dwarfer forms, growing two or three feet tall, are the Sweet Coneflower (Rudbeckia subtomentosa), the Large Southern Coneflower (Rudbeckia maxima) and the Showy Coneflower (Rudbeckia speciosa syn. R. Newmani), all to the manor born and suitable for all purposes.

Allied to tlie Rudbeckias and in fact often classed as one, is the Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), the one mostly gi'own. It is not a native of Northern Illinois, but the Narrow-leaved Coneflower (E. augustifolia) is sparingly found here. Both species are at home in wild gardening.

Some years ago a German firm sent out a glaring announcement offering seeds of a new red Sunflower (not the red Sunflower in the current year catalogue) claiming that it was a cross between the Echinacea and the Helianthus. I tried it. There was no "Sun" in mv flowers, no evidence of the blood of a Helianthus, but some very good forms of E. purpurea. The foliage shows the effects of some cross in species. At all events, I obtained a splendid strain of this flower, and if any reader of these lines deeires anv seed, he needs onlv to let me know.

As much as I like this plant on ray own grounds, I have never seen it elsewhere in situations where the effect seemed pleasing. There certainly was a reason for this and I endeavored to analyze the cause. I am satisfied that it is because my plants are in a large group by themselves, having the dense greenery of the ravine foliage at the ba>ck and the green turf of the lawn in front. Here, isolated from other blooming plants, they are a color to themselves, and are much admired. Those that I saw elsewhere were in among other blooming plants and their tone of color seemed harsh and discordant. I count on a floral display from early July until October, as even the half faded flowers are effective at a distance.

tivation aDd may grace the borders or enjoy the more damp open situations in the wilder parts of our grounds. If one wants to see an unusually fine display in the border certain conditions mnst be adhered to. Many of my plants this season were four to five feet tall, possessing from twenty to thirty side blooming branches - one plant had thirty-eight.

If we study a plant in its native haunts, considering its surroundings, and the conditions under which it thrives, we may obtain hints as to what course to pursue when it is brought in to our borders. Acting upon the information gained often assures success.

The Cardinal Flower is shallow rooted, and like all plants of similar character, does not like to have the sun beating down upon its roots. It even endeavors to protect itself by a growth of rosetted leaves at its base; but, in addition to this, in its natural habitat, the foliage of the adjoining grasses shades it.

I grow the plants as biennials, because they do not always winter well. It often happens that plants which look fairly well when first uncovered in the spring die when exposed to the sun and winds. If carried over winter it is well to allow the tops to remain, as the hollow stems, if cut, allow the melting snow and rains to enter and often causes a rot at the root that extends to the young plants clustered at its base. Place some leaves over the roots and hold them in place by perennial tops cut from the flower border. In the swamps their tops are never cut unless man with a scythe is after slough gi*ass. I sow the seed in Februaiy in the greenhouse, planting the seedlings in May on the north side of a solid board fence, giving them the ordinary watering any ])lant would have in dry times. Here they have the required shade, and by fall they have made fine plants. ^Oiey are then placed in a cold frame and transferred in the spring to their blooming quarters.

About the middle of June I place over their roots, and for about six inches beyond them, a three inch mulch of well rotted manure. If the manure is "strawy" and looks untidy, an inch of soil is added. The ordinary watering that all my beds get in dry times is all they ask.

Pines That Grow Well In Lake Forest

The Pines make the most important genus of evergreen trees in either hemisphere. They form the densest and most extensive of forests and their wood is much used for various purposes. Pines are capable of enduring extreme cold and growing on thin soil, they are found as far north as Lapland and grow on mountains at a great elevation compared with other arborescent plants. Very few native Pines are found on the North Shore between Chicago and Milwaukee, while further north the bluffs of Lake Michigan are in places densely covered with White Pines.

As ornamental trees, the Pines are peculiarly valuable for the deep verdure of their foliage, which is beautiful at all seasons and especially so in winter, unlike some of the other evergreens that change colors during the severe winter months. They are attractive in the picturesque forms which many of them assume when fully grown, and for the effectual shelter and protection which they afford in bleak and exposed situations.

Some forty years ago, Robert Douglas, a pioneer nurseryman, specializing in evergreens at Waukegan, planted in immense quantities over an area of several square miles, on the sandy flats about two miles north of Waukegan, bordering Lake Michigan, practically every variety of evergreen then in cultivation and several species of deciduous trees. The larger part of the planting consisted of White, Austrian, Scotch and Western Table Mountain Pines, Larch and Norway Spruce. Of all the evergreens used, the Pines have proved themselves by far the best adapted to this sandy situation; the Austrian and Scotch Pines doing far better than the others, with the latter the ]*eal leader.

Today there are immense specimens of Scotch and Austrian Pines which have made an annual growth that compares favorably with that of tlie same trees growing in loamy and well cultivated soil. Of the remaining trees some have made a fairly good growth, while others such as